AMJOY with Joy Reid; Political Analyst Jamal Simmons, "Trump is more interested in Pep Rallies than having the Team Practice." Chuck Schumer, "The silence from WikiLeaks since the election has been DEAFENING." Joy discusses Trump's adversarial relationship with the intelligence community with which he will have to work on a daily basis as President. It's become apparent that Russia hacked our Presidential Election and Joy calls for BOTH sides of the house to aggressively pursue the evidence to determine exactly how much and if they changed the outcome. President Obama will have a full report before he leaves office. Spy catcher and Former Intelligence Operative Naveed Jamali, International Terrorism Expert Malcom Nance and the Smokin' Hot former Apprentice Cast member Tara Dowdell also weigh in._________________Nhất quỷ nhì ma thứ ba học trò

Obama and Congress Knew About Russian Hacking—And They Did NothingIt's not surprising that Russia tried to spy on the country. But our leaders did little to stop it—and that doesn't bode well for the intelligence community under Trump.
Aki Peritz
12.11.16 12:01 AM ET

The Intelligence Community had already gone on the record in early October with an assessment that Moscow was interfering with our election.

Now, it has come to light that senior Members of Congress had been briefed in September on the pervasive Russian threat to the core functioning of our democracy. Obama dispatched FBI director James Comey, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnston, and White House counterterrorism and homeland security advisor Lisa Monaco to brief the so-called “Gang of 12” lawmakers: House & Senate leaders, as well as the chairmen and ranking members on the Homeland Security and Intelligence Committee.

They knew. And yet it appears little was done to stop Vladimir Putin’s efforts to put Donald Trump in the White House.

Upon reflection, this has the most galling aspect of this whole affair: not that Russia deployed a successful covert influence campaign against America, but that our lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle failed to take more aggressive efforts to halt this metastasizing threat to our democracy. More specifically, that President Obama was unwilling to forcefully counteract and confront Moscow’s mischief, and that GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was nakedly partisan in his decision to stifle the intelligence.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Russia collected (and continues to collect) intelligence on American policymakers—after all, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn tweeted that Russian hacking "happens all the time," (which, as an aside, might suggest Moscow tried to compromise previous American elections?). Collecting actionable information on one’s adversaries is considered fair game.

Unsurprisingly, Russia had penetrated Republican networks as well as Democratic ones—but didn't do anything to disclose the GOP’s inner workings. In October, NBC News reported the Russians were collecting intelligence across the political spectrum. On December 9, The New York Times quoted a senior administration official saying, “We now have high confidence [Russia] hacked the DNC and the RNC, and conspicuously released no documents” on the Republicans.

That doesn’t mean America should grin and bear it. But that’s what seems to have happened over the last several months. Beyond the note from DHS and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, there wasn’t much effort to counteract the Russians.

Ultimately it is the President, invested with the powers as Commander-in-Chief, who could have chosen to act aggressively against Moscow. But he wanted to present a unified front across the American political spectrum. He wanted bipartisan support—and when McConnell rebuffed this effort (more on that in a bit), the White House decided to take the cautious route to “name and shame” the Russians.

[...]

Former Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms once mused in 1967 about CIA’s relationship to its critics: “I find it painful…when public debate lessens our usefulness to the nation by casting doubt on our integrity and objectivity. If we are not believed, we have no purpose.”

We’re about to find out, in the upcoming era of unified Republican rule, if Helms’ words will ring true. Senator Lindsey Graham’s declaration that he’ll hold hearings into Russian interventions into our electoral process is a hopeful sign.

But if our elected lawmakers can’t see beyond the trees of political gains or losses for the forest of defending our core democratic values, we are going to be in for a very challenging future indeed

Four Democratic and Republican senators issued a statement Sunday warning that concerns over Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election “cannot become a partisan issue.” “Democrats and Republicans must work together, and across the jurisdictional lines of the Congress, to examine these recent incidents thoroughly and devise comprehensive solutions to deter and defend against further cyber-attacks,” said incoming Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The joint statement went on to warn that news of Moscow’s interference in the election “should alarm every American.” “The stakes are too high for our country” for it to become a partisan issue, the statement said. “We are committed to working in this bipartisan manner, and we will seek to unify our colleagues around the goal of investigating and stopping the grave threats that cyberattacks conducted by foreign governments pose to our national security.” The statement comes after The Washington Post reported on Friday that the CIA concluded Russia had interfered in the election to help Donald Trump win, a fact which triggered calls for a congressional investigation. While most politicians reacted with shock and concern to the report, Trump dismissed the news as “ridiculous.”

How Russian Hackers Can Blackmail Donald Trump—and the GOP
If it is true that the Russians hacked the Republican National Committee as well as the DNC, then their power over POTUS potentially knows few bounds.
Michael Weiss
Kimberly Dozier
12.10.16 3:50 PM ET

Former and current U.S. national security officials and experts say that if it is true that the Russian government possesses documents belonging to the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump’s incoming administration may be the most compromised in U.S. history.

A senior U.S. administration official confirmed to The Daily Beast that the CIA believes the Russians hacked the RNC. He spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

On Friday, Dec. 9, The New York Times reported that hackers connected to two separate Russian security services allegedly broke into the computer systems of the RNC, but chose not to disclose the digital contents of those systems, in marked contrast to the gradual release, via WikiLeaks, of emails belonging to the Democratic National Committee throughout the spring and summer.

As a result, the report said U.S. intelligence agencies concluded with “high confidence” that the Kremlin’s motive in these cyberattacks was to get Trump elected, not just do harm to his rival Hillary Clinton or undermine American democracy, as the agencies had previously concluded with only “confidence,” when they announced concerns over Russian interference in October. One senior U.S. official told the Washington Post for its own story on the matter, “It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected.”

Donald Trump's presidential transition team on Saturday challenged the veracity of U.S. intelligence assessments that Russia was trying to tip the November election to the Republican. A top Senate Democrat demanded a full congressional investigation.

The CIA has now concluded with "high confidence" that Moscow was not only interfering with the election, but that its actions were intended to help Trump, according to a senior U.S. official. The assessment is based in part on evidence that Russian actors had hacked Republicans as well as Democrats but were only releasing information harmful to Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton.

The official was not authorized to discuss the private intelligence assessment publicly and insisted on anonymity.

Trump's public dismissal of the CIA assessment raises questions about how he will treat information from intelligence agencies as president. His view also puts Republicans in the uncomfortable position of choosing between the incoming president and the intelligence community.

In a statement late Friday, Trump's transition team said the finger-pointing at Russia was coming from "the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction." On Saturday, spokesman Sean Spicer told CNN there were "people within these agencies who are upset with the outcome of the election."

Spicer denied a New York Times report that Russia had broken into the Republican National Committee's computer networks. The U.S. official who disclosed the CIA assessment to The Associated Press said only that Republican entities had been targeted during the election.

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would press for a congressional investigation in the new year. "That any country could be meddling in our elections should shake both political parties to their core," he said. "It's imperative that our intelligence community turns over any relevant information so that Congress can conduct a full investigation."

Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have also said they plan to pursue investigations into Russian election interference. Other Republicans have played down the reports. Texas Sen. John Cornyn wrote on Twitter Saturday that Russian hacking had been going on for years. He said the matter was "serious, but hardly news."

There was no immediate official response from Moscow. But Oleg Morozov, a member of the foreign relations committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, dismissed the claim of Russian interference as "silliness and paranoia," according to the RIA Novosti news agency. Morozov described the allegations as an attempt to force the next administration to stick to Obama's anti-Russian course.

President Barack Obama has ordered a full-scale review of campaign-season cyberattacks to be completed before he leaves office in January.

The investigation ordered by Obama will be a "deep dive" into a possible pattern of increased "malicious cyber activity" timed to the campaign season, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Friday, including the email hacks that rattled the presidential campaign. It will look at the tactics, targets, key actors and the U.S. government's response to the recent email hacks, as well as incidents reported in past elections, he said.

The president ordered up the report earlier in the week asked that it be completed before he leaves office next month, Schultz said.

"The president wanted this done under his watch because he takes it very seriously," he said. "We are committed to ensuring the integrity of our elections."

The Kremlin has rejected the hacking accusations.

In the months leading up to the election, email accounts of Democratic Party officials and a top Hillary Clinton campaign aide were breached, emails leaked and embarrassing and private emails posted online. Many Democrats believe the hackings benefited Trump's bid.

Schultz said the president sought the probe as a way of improving U.S. defense against cyberattacks and was not intending to question the legitimacy of Trump's victory.

"This is not an effort to challenge the outcome of the election," Schultz said.

Obama's move comes as Democratic lawmakers have been pushing Obama to declassify more information about Russia's role, fearing that Trump, who has promised a warmer relationship with Moscow, may not prioritize the issue.

Given Trump's statements, "there is an added urgency to the need for a thorough review before President Obama leaves office next month," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee. If the administration doesn't respond "forcefully" to such actions, "we can expect to see a lot more of this in the near future," he said.

The White House said it would make portions of the report public and would brief lawmakers and relevant state officials on the findings.

It emphasized the report would not focus solely on Russian operations or hacks involving Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and Democratic National Committee accounts. Schultz stressed officials would be reviewing incidents going back to the 2008 presidential campaign, when the campaigns of Sen. John McCain and Obama were breached by hackers.

President-elect Donald Trump dismissed claims that Russia interfered in the 2016 election by hacking and leaking emails of top Democratic officials at the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign.

The Washington Post and New York Times both reported this week that the CIA presented a report to Congress that concluded Russian hackers attempted to aide Trump by selectively providing private emails to WikiLeaks from the DNC and Clinton campaign chair John Podesta.

In Sunday's interview, Trump said that he doesn't believe the reports "at all," reiterating claims that the hackers "could be somebody sitting in a bed some place."

The president-elect also suggested without evidence that the report was the work of Democrats.

"I think it's ridiculous," Trump said of the report. "I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it. I don't know why and I think it's just — you know, they talked about all sorts of things. Every week it's another excuse. We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the Electoral College."

He added: "I think the Democrats are putting it out because they suffered one of the greatest defeats in the history of politics in this country. And frankly, I think they're putting it out. And it's ridiculous. We ought to get back to making America great again, which is what we're going to do. And we've already started the process."

Although Trump praised President Barack Obama's orderly handling of the presidential transition of power, Trump suggested —without citing evidence — that the report could be an attempt by Obama and Democrats to undercut him.

"It could be. I think President Obama has been terrific. He's been, you know, very respectful of the process and everything else," Trump said. "I don't want anyone hacking us, and I'm not only talking about countries. I'm talking about anyone, period. But if you’re gonna to do that, I think you should not just say 'Russia.' You should say other countries also, and maybe other individuals."

"It could be. I mean, it could be," Trump said when asked to clarify whether he thought the CIA's report was political. "We had — many people are saying — one of the great victories of all time. They're very embarrassed."

In Sunday's interview, Trump suggested that intelligence and national security officials he appoints may reach different conclusions than those tapped by the Obama administration.

"I've made changes, you know, at the top. I mean, we're going to have different people coming in, because we have our people. They have their people, and I have great respect for them," Trump said.

Democrats and some national security experts condemned Trump's previous attempt on Friday to undercut the CIA report.

Throughout the 2016 campaign and his subsequent election, Trump has been repeatedly criticized for his apparent embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin, an autocrat who has consolidated power in Russia over decades and jailed political dissidents.

The president-elect reportedly will nominate Exxon-Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State. The selection of Tillerson raised eyebrows because of the CEO's close ties to Putin. During the campaign, Trump praised Putin's high poll numbers, and suggested that he was a leader "far more than our president has been a leader."

Russian leaders openly celebrated Trump's victory over Clinton, who many saw as hostile to Russia._________________

When everyone voted we didn’t know that Russia had likely interfered in the election to get Trump in power. And when many states were decided by tens of thousands of votes it’s likely this information would have changed the outcome!

But there’s still so much we don’t know because it’s incomplete or classified and maybe that’s the right call. Electors, though, hold our entire future in their hands and need the clearance to get information, even if it’s secret from all of us. That’s their job — to protect against gross injustices, corruption, and terrible outcomes from a popular vote.

We can’t know if there’s a case for the Electoral College to change their vote. But we can make sure those individuals hold the basic information they need to make an informed decision. Let’s support their right to know and give the Electors a huge national wind at their back:

GOP Sen. John McCain called for forming a select committee on Sunday to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"I would like, in an ideal world, to have a select committee," the Arizona
Republican told John Dickerson on CBS' "Face the Nation."

But McCain acknowledged that garnering enough support to create a select
committee — the same type of committee that investigated, among other
things, Watergate and the Benghazi attacks — would take time. In the
meantime, McCain said, he would ask Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to chair
a subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services to investigate the Russian
interference, "along with a really smart Democrat."

"We'll go to work on it," McCain said. "We'll go to work immediately."

McCain and Graham joined incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
(D-N.Y.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) earlier Sunday morning in calling for
an investigation. McCain told Dickerson that he didn't know what to make
of President-elect Donald Trump's comments in a Fox News Sunday interview
that the idea that the Russians worked to help elect him was "ridiculous."

"It's clear the Russians interfered," McCain said. "Now, whether they
intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a
certain candidate, I think that's a subject of investigation."

But trying swing the election one way or another wouldn't be out of
character for Russia, McCain said.

"The Russians have interfered in a lot of other elections," McCain said,
using hacking as a tool "as part of Vladimir Putin's ambition to regain
Russian prominence and dominance in some parts of the world."

McCain is heading to the Balkans with Graham soon to reassure leaders
there that the U.S. will continue to stand up to "the threats and the
bullying of Vladimir Putin."

"They are very worried," McCain said when asked whether Balkan leaders
were concerned about Trump's stances on Russia. "And they're not the only
ones."

McCain also reiterated his concerns about ExxonMobil chief executive Rex
Tillerson, who is seen as Trump's most likely choice for secretary of
state and has ties to Putin after negotiating deals in Russia.

"Maybe those ties are strictly commercial and got to do with his business
in the oil business," McCain said. "Fine. We'll give him a fair hearing.
But is it a matter of concern? Certainly it should be a matter of
concern."_________________

John Bolton, the hawkish former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations expected to be announced as Trump’s pick for deputy secretary of State, questioned this weekend whether the reports of pre-election hacking attacks on the Democratic National Committee were a “false flag” operation. “It is not at all clear to me, just viewing this from the outside, that this hacking into the DNC and the [Republican National Committee] was not a false-flag operation,” he told Fox News host Eric Shawn on Sunday. “We just don’t know,” he continued when asked if he was accusing the U.S. government of involvement. “I believe that intelligence has been politicized in the Obama administration to a very significant degree,” he added. Later in the day, Bolton reiterated his claims, telling Fox News’s Harris Faulkner it might’ve been a false flag “in the sense that the conclusion that the Russians did it is arrived at too easily.” The following morning, on Fox & Friends, Bolton repeated once again: “I think it’s at least a question to be asked, whether or not this was a false-flag operation with some foreign government other than Russia.” He now suggested that maybe China could’ve planted the hack to blame Russia, later adding the possibilities of Iran, North Korea, or, as host Brian Kilmeade suggested, “a 400-pound guy in his bed in his basement.”